Sociophobic
by Magical Girl Satan
Summary: Being afraid of the social world doesn't help one so good. But being stuck in a zombie apocalypse with 4 strangers doesn't help your anxiety, especially when one of them is a such a charmer and you can't help but grow so fond of him.
1. Agoraphobia

**[A/N] Decided to try this story out once more. I've been playing L4D2 too much, so... This was brought up again. This doesn't stop me from my other story. I'll get to that as soon as I start cleaning up the Decoy class. Until then, L4D2 belongs to VALVE respectively. **

I'm not one to be outspoken, nor social. I liked to hide a lot, and stay out of peoples way. Speaking to strangers was forbidden in my book. And when I was forced to go out to these 'social gatherings' I always made sure that my older brother was with me, so I can stay behind him while he talked. He was a great guy, we always hung out and had fun. Spencer was his name, and he was the optimistic side of me.

We both were on a road trip (and honestly I don't remember where to) until news about a Green Flu was going around. Not knowing what to do, we packed up and were leaving, making a stop at a motel. There was barely anyone in it, so we took our chances. Before we knew it, CEDA came in knocking on every door checking for people. Spencer had a bad feeling and told me to hide underneath the bed. They came in, and of course the usual rounds of question were thrown at him. I last remember seeing his feet along with others leaving the room. I was totally alone,

And scared. I took a nap, hoping someone else would come.

I woke up, hours later, got up and checked outside my window. Oh my God...

I was stuck inside a zombie movie, all alone.

* * *

><p>I clung onto the pistol that I found lying around the motel, along with other weapons, but stuck to this one since it was closer. It's been a little over a week since CEDA came and took my brother. The last time I saw any sort of life, without having the desire for human flesh. Food was so scarce, and I honestly don't want to go out and look for food. I leaned against the door and let out a sigh. I was trapped here, not knowing what to do. Maybe i'll die from starvation or be stupid enough to go out, and get eaten alive.<p>

Gun shots from the distance perked my ears. Survivors? Out here? So maybe I'm not entirely alone, which in a way, was a relief. They came closer and closer. I got more nervous and nervous. What would happen if I ran out screaming for help and they shot me, thinking I was a zombie? Or if they aren't friendly, and don't want to help me. Ohhhh... So much negative, I think i'll just stay here and-

As I turned around to face the door, it swung in my face roughly, sending me on my back to the ground. A pair of blue eyes hovering over me scared me.

" Ho' shit! Sorry missy! I was just lookin'-" Without thinking, I grabbed the stranger by the collar, slammed him on the ground, and placed my pistol against his forehead.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Look miss, I am sorry I slammed the door in yer face! But-!" A click behind me startled me, along with the dark threatening voice that followed.

"Let go of the hick, and I swear to God I won't shoot your brains out." He glared at me, as I let go of the man, glaring back at him. The 'hick' retreated to his white suit friend, looking a tad bit afraid. A woman and rather plump man appeared at the door way. "Nick! What the hell do you think you're doing! Put the gun down!" His gaze didn't leave my sight.

"This idiot was going to kill Ellis, and I'm not taking any chances. Maybe she got bit and is going crazy." They all looked at me, probably expecting me to turn into a zombie or something. I let out a scoff, attempting to wipe the blood dripping from my nose.

"For your information, I've been inside this room for over a week now." The woman came towards me, concern written all over her face.

"Look, we don't mean harm, and I'm taking a guess that you're afraid, but we're friendly people. Well, expect Nick. But other than that, we would never thinking of harming another survivor. Never." I took a quick glance at her, and back at Nick, who was ever so still glaring at me.

"Alright then... I believe you." She smiled and hugged me. It was weird, but I guess... Alright?

"Okay then! The name's Rochelle, Ro for short. That big man over there is known as Coach. The man you tackled over there is Ellis. And the asshole in the white suit is Nick. Now what's your name?" I looked at her for a moment before fidgeting. "It's Calypso, but Cal if it's a mouthful."

* * *

><p>They let me tag along with them, Nick wasn't so pleased though. He argued that I was going to go nuts and kill everyone. Rochelle finally shut him up about it, and let me join them. After awhile of walking, I decided to apologize to Ellis for giving him quite a fright.<p>

"Umm... Ellis?" He turned to me, and smiled with this goofy grin on his face. "'Ey there Cal, what's up?" I fidgeted with the axe that Rochelle gave me, slightly blushing.

"I've been meaning to say sorry when I put my gun to your head. I was scared and all and you just came outta nowhere and-" He placed a finger on my lips to stop my rambling.

"It's all right darlin', you were scared and tried to protect yer self. Plus I kinda deserve it for givin' yew a nosebleed. Heheh..." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled nervously. I found it cute and decided to stay close by him and Rochelle. Coach was a cool guy as well, but I avoided Nick for sometime, since he gave out these vibes that I swear were trying to strangle me.

* * *

><p>Once the motel was cleared out from most of the zombies, and everyone gathered as much supplies as they can hold, they all decided to head out to the carnival they were all talking about. I looked back at the motel, wondering if I was truly safe, and if it was a wise choice to leave the sanctuary of my old motel room that I shared with Spencer. I let out a sigh and walked off along with the group before they left me behind. The one goal that I had was to find Spencer.<p>

**[A/N] Just a quick intro to my character. Eventually i'll introduce you guys to blood, guts, and gore. Oh my. Critique and reviews are acceptable. **


	2. Coulrophobia

**[A/N] Getting a move on with this. L4D2 belongs to VALVE respectively. **

I followed behind Ellis, heading behind the motel, clutching onto my axe. Crickets along with zombie groans were heard not too far away. It's been awhile since I have had some nice fresh air. Everyone stood still, but of course me being oblivious to it, ran into Ellis's back.

"H-huh? What's wrong?" He slowly turned to face me, eyes wondering somewhere.

"Shh... There's a Witch around here..." I was confused? A Witch? I quickly imagined a cackling old hag on a broom with a black pointy hat. A tiny chuckle came from him, forgetting that i've been cooped up in a motel room. "A Witch is this zombie girl that's always cryin' and stuff. Though she could kill ya ina second if yew disturb her." Her cries started to come closer and closer, which frightened me in a way. By the way Ellis has put her description, I could get killed even before I could leave this place.

"Oh shit, found her!" I heard Coach whisper hoarsely. There, in front of us, was a pale sobbing woman, with large claws. Now I know why they didn't wanna mess with her. A cackling laugh focused our attention behind us. I turned around and was pushed.

"Jockey Jockey!" I heard someone scream. A growl beside me, along with the heavy breathing, told me that I should crawl away and not look up. I accidently hit a foot, which I knew signaled death to me.

**SKREEEEEEEEEEEEE!**

I grabbed my axe and hauled ass. But the hill was too steep and I ended up falling down. While Ellis an Coach took care of the Jockey, Rochelle and Nick went after the Witch to help me, I guessed? I clumsily got up and attempted to run.

She was only a mere foot away from me, but running in water wasn't easy and the Witch just ended up grabbing me and pulling me underwater as she began clawing at me.

My axe proved useless as it was tossed away. My pistol was lost somewhere when I fell. There was no way to stop her, my hands and arms were scratched up from trying to protect myself. A final shriek and the Witch fell limp. "Oh shiiiittt, get up get up." I was pulled up quickly, which made my head spin. Beside me, I saw Rochelle slowly panicking.

"Crap, I don't have any med- kits. Uhh... Hey, any of ya'll got any med-kit!" Nick caught up, clearing the way of zombies who didn't notice the brawl between the Witch and I. He took a quick glance at me, handed me my pistol and shook his head.

"All I got are pills, and I don't know if that'll stop the bleeding." I let out a cough and waved my arms around.

"I can hold up for a little bit more. Beside, we should be close. If anything, those pills can help me for a bit." Shrugging, he handed me the pills.

"The safe house should be up that hill. Lets get going before a horde comes after our ass." Ellis and Coach joined us, and we went up to the safe house. Of course, with zombies in the way.

* * *

><p>"Hold stilll... There! All done!" Rochelle lightly patted her handy work on my arm, all bandaged up. I winced, not at the pain, but how my sleeve was half way ripped off. It wasn't my shirt, it was Spencer's since my shirt... I don't remember what happened to my shirt, Oh well.<p>

I still held onto my axe, but saw other weapons, like a shotgun and a rifle, which Ellis was cooing over. I didn't know how to shoot guns honestly, I was lucky enough with the pistol. It was kinda embarrassing to ask for lessons from anyone. I wasn't quite that comfortable with anyone but, Rochelle... _Andalil'bitofEllis_...

"Rochelle, can I ask you something?" I gently tugged on the back of her shirt like a little kid, which I basically was. She turned to face me, after loading up her shotgun.

"What's up girl?"

"I uhh... Don't know exactly how to shoot a gun. And you seem quite good at it? Mind helping me?" She pondered it for a little bit.

"I can't say that I could teach you, Nick taught me some pointers. But if there's someone who'll teach you to survive, that'll be overalls." A blush crawled it's way up on my face. This is what I tried to avoid. Sighing, I had no choice. "Thanks Ro."

I made my way to Ellis who was sniping through the safe room door. "Uh... Ellis?" He lowered his weapon and stood to face me.

"What can I help ya with darlin'?"

"Uhh... I was wondering if you can help me shoot a gun? I don't really know how to." He chuckled lowly and signaled me towards him.

"C'mere and i'll show ya." He got behind me, placing the hunting rifle in front of me. "Now then, look threw tha scope, and yew gunna see 4 lines that meet each other." I looked through the scope and saw that they connected.

"If yew look in tha middle, it gives you a point. Now try to aim to the nearest zombie and aim for tha head." He helped me hold it, one hand holding it up as I placed a finger on a trigger. I pulled, hearing a gunshot echo, seeing the zombie fall to the ground, but he still had a head. A pat on my back turned my attention to Ellis.

"It's all right, yew gunna get the hang of it sooner or later hon." He pointed out tips for the rifle, and actually let me keep it.

"Alright, ready to go?" Shouts of 'Lets do it!" and 'Hells yeah!' signaled the dropping of the bar that made this room safe.

* * *

><p>"Someone kill that goddamn clown!" Nick shouted as he got rid of a, what they called, a Charger, who was running around in circles. The annoying honks of the zombie clown came closer. Clowns weren't really that scary, but after watching 'It', it can change a lot. A horde alerted us, because of the clown's constant honking.<p>

"That clown is alerting the horde!" Rochelle screamed, trying to find the clown zombie. In my lucky, I found him. He was trying to get a nice bite outta my neck.

I tried to avoid looking at him directly, but that big red nose...

That freakin' big red nose... With of course jagged broken teeth and flesh hanging from his mouth caught my attention. I smacked him across the face and then aimed at his head, shooting out his brain.

"Got him!" I shouted before making my way beside Coach.

"You're doin' good young'un, gettin' used to that gun I see?" I smiled sheepishly.

"Y-yeah... It's easy once you get the hang of it." He gave a rough pat on my back, laughing underneath his breath.

"Well keep it up then. You're gunna need it."

* * *

><p>"Ho' shit guys... Kiddie Land!" Ellis began jumping up and down with excitement.<p>

"I swear, doesn't it feel like we're babysittin'?" Coach sighed. Rochelle turned to him and weakly smiled.

"Well... He's just trying to make the best outta a bad situation."

"He's like a 5 year old with guns. And a comprehensive grasp of every swear word in the English language." Nick scoffed. Rochelle brushed off his comment and giggled.

"I wish I could be that happy... Oh to hell with it, WHOO HOO! KIDDIE LAND!" Rochelle joined Ellis, both laughing and jumping. I laughed weakly, it was a sigh rare to see. I mean, stuck in a zombie apocalypse, of course it's a tragedy but... You can't let that stop you from enjoying the little things.

I noticed that things were a bit... Too quiet. There were no zombies, or any of the special infected around. A lowly but threatening growl caught my attention inside a shack. Wandering a bit from the group, I looked inside. Slowly walking inside the dark shack, I turned my flashlight on, and looked quickly behind me, until I ran into something... Rather large. I panicked as it began breathing heavily above me, like a angry bull. I shone my flashlight into it's eyes and all I remember was hearing a loud roar before it punched me out of the room.

"Gah! What the hell is that thing!" I managed to gasp as I barely got up from the ground shaking.

"Oh shit... RUN RUN! TANK!" I clumsily grabbed my rifle and ran as I shot the enormous thing. Getting a good shot was impossible since the ground kept on trembling. Oh god, oh god, ohhhhh Godddddd! It went after me, since I seemed to have disturbed the thing. The pain in my torso was getting better after the Witch attack, but after getting punched by that thing, the pain seemed to switch to my chest, which throbbed horribily.

"Oh jesus... I'm running outta... Breath..." Someone pushed me to the ground, don't know exactly who, but they seemed to throw something which lit the Tank on fire.

"That's right! Burn you mother!" Ellis shouted from the distance. After sometime from shooting the Tank, and running, it died. As much as i'd love to cheer about the success of bring down the ape, I was too busy acknowledging the throbbing pain growing in my torso. I didn't want to worry about it now, it'll burden everyone and I don't wanna do that.

"Hey there, you alright kiddo?" Nick placed a hand on my shoulder. He probably noticed... Gotta... Cover up.

Getting up slowly, and adjusting my rifle on my back, I gave him a reassuring smile. "Y-yea... Just a lil' sore from the Tank."

"Huh.. Alright then, just try to keep up." Once he was out of view, I clutched onto my chest. Hopefully it'll just heal up.

**[A/N] Woot woot, done for now. This chapter took awhile since I tend to get distracted. Anyways as always, critiques and reviews are welcomed.**


	3. Acrophobia

**[A/N] Getting a move on, hopefully i'll get through at least 5-6 chapters before school starts for me.**

**Pinned Back Wings: I try to avoid the 'Mary- Sue' type. I don't believe that my character can defeat a horde of zombies without a single scratch nor that romance between two strangers click in, will attract readers. Thank you for the review! I try. (:**

**Zoey The Wolf: I'm glad you're enjoying my story, as well as my other one. Thank you! Hope I don't disappoint! (:**

**Now lets get a move on...**

Everyone was panting once they got inside the safe room. After turning on the switch to open the gates, the carrousel began blaring music and which attracted a horde. And we can never leave out the special infected, which we came across. I began to get annoyed at what they called 'Smokers', since they like to hide and reel you in with their freakishly long tongue. Then there was also a Hunter which paired up with the Smoker, and Spitters... Burr... I rubbed my left arm which was bandaged from the earlier attack of the Witch. The wrappings were burnt from the acid, which slightly irritated my claw wounds. Of course I'm not the only one injured here...

"God dammit! That hurts!" Rochelle glared at Nick, as he wriggled underneath her grasp.

"Well if you stood still then maybe I WOULD be more gentler." They both glared at each other before she went back to working on his torso. He was attacked by a Hunter, and none of us knew until he started screaming swear words into the air. Then we knew.

Looking around, it seemed that we all were in the safe room, inside a tunnel of love. Tunnel of love... Well, this is a carnival.

"It's all or nothin' y'all. Ready ta' go?" After a couple of ' lets do it', Ellis opened the door and from there on we made our way.

* * *

><p>There wasn't many zombies as I expected, and these tunnels were quite long. I kind of longed to know everyone better, and in a way, them to know me better.<p>

"What's on your mind girl?" Rochelle nudged me on my side, which snapped my attention to her.

"Well, I was hoping to know you guys a bit better? Or how you ended up in the middle of this? I don't know, it seems kinda-"

"Good idea, it's too quiet anyways. Let me start with myself, I'm a producer from a news station, hailing from Cleveland Ohio. I was low level producer, so all I really did was get coffee or carry around cables. I got a big break and started to film in Savannah. Of course once the infected started to come out, my team left me behind. So here I am." She let out a soft giggle, which I seemed to catch myself smiling at. Coach overheard us and decided to join us.

" I come from Savannah, being well, a Football Coach at a high school, hence tha nickname 'Coach'. Got myself a wife and two kids. They were taken by CEDA, as I was stuck at work, takin' care of a couple of zombie ass. Then I ran into these young'uns and thought that I could tag along 'em." He has a wife and kids, which I found to be adorable.

Nick scoffed. Rochelle turned to him, with a skeptical look on her face. "Wanna share something here Suit?"

"Really? Like what? All I can say is that I love traveling, gambling, and got arrested a couple of times. I was hoping to making go fishing in here, and ran into these guys. That's all you needa know." Of course what did I expect? Hmph, well that's what I figured from a man like him. Ellis came up beside Rochelle, all smiley and stuff.

" I come from Savannah, like Coach. I own a small mechanic shop with mah best buds, Keith an' Dave. During the weekends I love ta go an' visit my ma. Though, I was workin' on a car in tha' shop, and I heard somethin' weird. I found a couple of zombies around and then ran out to find Keith and Dave, but couldn't. Then I ran into Ro and Coach and then Nick. Heh."

We all have seemed to stop, me of course being oblivious to it. They all looked at me, Coach being the only one speaking. "What's your story young'un?" I smiled sheepishly, kinda embarrassed. I deserved to share my story with them as well.

"Well... I'm from New Orleans. I'm an art student... And uhh... I was on a road trip to somewhere with my big brother when we had to settle down somewhere, thus resting in the motel you guys found me in. We stayed there for awhile until CEDA came in. I hid underneath the bed, and they took my brother. So yeah..." I shrugged it off. "Shall we head on?"

"Holy crap? New Orleans? All of us are tryin' to head there!" Ellis shook me around, excited. I stood stiff, a feeling of relief washing over me. New Orleans! Just the place to go! Ellis rambled how CEDA might be there and blah blah blah. I became giddy, as the feeling of going back home after some years was... Just unexplainable. And maybe Spencer was there! Oh the happiness!

" But we won't be goin' anywhere with all of us standing here like idiots. Can we get a move on?" Snapping out of my thoughts, I trailed behind the group, smiling all the way.

"Whew, well all I can say is thank God we're outta there. That was the longest Love of Tunnel ever." Ellis sighed as he reloaded his shotgun with ammo from a table. A chopping sound caught our attention, seeing that there was a helicopter above us.

"Heyy! Look! There's the Helicopter. Now only if we can just get it's attention." Walking along a bit further, there was a roller coaster in our way. Climbing over the broken chain link fence, the only choice was to 'ride' the coaster to get through.

"Ya'll get ready 'fore I start this thing." Coach yelled, ready as ever. I equipped myself with a baseball bat, which I found to be useful. In a second, a blaring sound rang throughout the area, as the scatter of wheels along wood alerted infected nearby. Once the gates opened up, it was all or nothing.

"Go Go Go!" Nick yelled, sending all of us running.

"JOCKEY!"

"Hunter Hunter Hunter!"

"Smoker got Coach"

"Incoming goo!"

"Aww, shit i've been puked on!"

"Charger got Nick!"

It was a non stop repeat of this, along with rescuing each other from plummeting to the ground. I can't recall who turned off the ride, but all I can tell you is that it wasn't me. I was busy trying to get rid of these zombies on my tail after a Boomer puked on me. "There, all done, safe room is right over there. Lets get going."

"Alright then, lets patch up quick and get going." Nick shouted, as well all came in, panting. My chest began to throb, the pain unexpectedly coming and going as it pleased. I tried to hold the pain back, but it seemed that Ellis was keeping an eye on me.

"What's wrong darlin'?" He placed a hand on my shoulder as I leaned over in pain.

"Oh... U-urgh... Nothing! My... Left arm just hurts." I lifted it to show him the burnt and dirty wrappings. He smirked and took my arm.

"Well why didn't yew say anythin'? I coulda cleaned it up for ya." He undid the wrappings, showing 4 claw marks running down my arm, along with some of my skin irritated from the Spitter's acid. He winced a little bit, then wrapped my arm up with gauze, gently as he could. Though this distracted me for a while, the pain in my chest returned slightly.

Ellis patted my hand, smiling. "There ya go hon, hope that helps. Those were some pretty bad cuts ya got." I shrugged, they were a bit old by now. The bleeding stopped so it wasn't bad.

The sound of the safe room door opening and gun fire alerted us both that everyone was already heading out.

The barns smelled like rotten meat. But it was funny since there was rotten meat inside, along with walking corpses inside.

A low cry made everyone stop in their tracks. It was a Witch, and she seemed pretty close. Nick slowly opened the door to see a Witch right at the exit.

"Shit, looks like we're going to have to kill her. She's in our way." Glances were exchanged, wondering who was going to disturb her.

"Uh... I'll go-"

"I'll do it." I turned to Ellis, who had this hard look on his face. "Just make sure one of ya'll hold a med kit for me." He began walking up to the Witch, slow and quiet. I turned away, trying not to remind myself of my first incident with the Witch. A loud bang echoed and a shriek followed afterwards.

"Aghh! She got me!" And everyone turned to shot the Witch. Once she fell dead, I ran beside his side and began healing him.

"J-just stay still... Okay? I'll do this as quick as I can" Messily, I wrapped gauze his torso and some around his hand. I wasn't the greatest medic out there, but Itried.

"Heh, thanks darlin'. Means a lot." I helped him up, making sure that I wouldn't hurt him. He let out a huff and brushed off the dirt from his pants and shirt. Coach handed Ellis his shotgun and patted him on his back. "There ya go Ellis. Lets get this over with, we're almost there."

Climbing up the ladder and over the roofs, we made it over, only to find an obstacle in our way. The gates were closed, but in order to get through, one of us have to press a button to open the gates, setting off a loud sound which will alarm any zombies near the area. "So... Who's gonna push it?"

"I'll do it, ya'll get ready!" Rochelle readied herself, near the broken window, as I and Ellis stood up on a platform, Coach and Nick below us.

She reached inside the window, and pressed it. Lights shone through, and immediately the sounds of infected roared in the air. I gripped onto my bat, waiting for it.

**[A/N] Sorry for the wait. I got distracted and it took awhile for this. I'm not so proud of this chapter. I seem to be taking a long time in the Dark Carnival setting. Maybe later on i'll quicken the pace or something. Eventually you'll guys see more romance and blah blah. Reviews and critique are appreciated ~**


	4. Herpetophobia

**[A/N] Ahhh! Thanks for much for reviews! It's nice to know that someone likes my story. And i've been getting good feedback from people about my character. Thanks a bunch. Now to get a move on with this. L4D2 belongs respectively to VALVE.**

Body parts flew everywhere, corpses dripped of blood. And of course we can't forget the puke and sizzling acid around as well.

"Gah! That bitch got goo on me!" Coach cursed as he hopped out of the sizzling pool of acid. Rochelle ran to his side and helped him hobble to a much safer distance... Well, if there was a 'safe' place. It felt like hours, until finally, the sound of a clink caught out attention.

"Gates are open, lets MOVE!" Nick shouted over the roars of a upcoming horde.

Infected poured out from the stadium, making me question if Zombies can reproduce or not. I mean, really, there's so many I just can't. Looking around, I noticed one of us was missing. But of course, who else can it be other than a certain hick. His distant screams alerted me that he was pounced on by a Hunter. I took out my baseball bat and began slaming it into head, clearing my path.

"GET HIM OFF!" I shoved the Hunter off, and glared at him. He growled lowly before trying to pounce on me. Reflexes kicked in and I tried to get a grip on the front of his hoodie. That wasn't much of a good decision, as the Hunter saw what I was going to do and scraped at my arm.

I let out a little yelp and backed up, to see the Hunter pounce in the air. I flinched back, until I heard an echoing shot.

"Whew, he almost got yuh there. Heh, it looks like I hada save ya, rather than yew save me." I blushed slightly, feeling stupid for not killing the Hunter fast enough.

"Uhh... Well, h-hey! We gotta get back to the group. I beat they're waiting now, or getting killed."

"There's so many of 'em. Damn.. That Hunter really hurt me." I turned o Ellis, who was limping behind me. Taking out an adrenaline shot, I handed it to him, hoping that it would would help him get through. "Come on, we can't lose you now." I gave him a reassuring smile before clearing the path in front of us, making it easier to get through.

There were screams in the Safe Room, screaming 'hurry up' and 'get your asses in here'. Both of us scrambled inside, before more zombies somehow show up.

* * *

><p>"Whoa... This stadium is hugggeee." I spun in a circle, looking around the stadium. No wonder there were so many zombies. Now I'm thinking of how many zombies will appear once we alert the helicopter.<p>

"Well then, me and Rochelle will go up and turn the lights on. You three stay here and wait to start the concert."

"Wait! Don't you want to set up some gas tanks around here and stuff?" Nick scratched his chin, thinking about it.

"Eh... I guess so. Go on ahead and do that. Me and Ro will go turn the lights on while you're doing that." They ran off, which signaled me to jump off stage and begin tossing tanks around. Ellis and Coach helped me, setting them up where they might be useful.

"Now if we gonna use 'em, we gotta be careful when we shoot 'em. Any of us could be around it and the outcome won't be good. Ya'll got that?" I gave him a quick nod to that motion. We can't afford to be stupid and get each other injured.

After setting up, and the lights now on, it was ready to start this concert...

"Watch out Spitter goo!" I held up my rifle clumsily shooting the Spitter till I heard her dying shriek. They were everywhere and it was just insane. I whipped out my bat and started to swing it around a horde. A sharp crack caught my attention. It wasn't good... Bringing it up to my view, my bat has broken in half. I guess I shouldn't have been so rough with it.

Gripping onto one of the guitars next to me, it seemed to work better, and the strings strummed every time I smacked it into a zombie. Which I found to be entertaining. We just fought a Tank not to long ago and it was a real pain in the ass. I could sense the weariness in everyone, and any moment now, one of us could fall down and just pass out.

The fireworks frightened me, it was in a way unexpected. But as Ellis put it, the Midnight Riders _were_ going to save us. And we all believed him.

"TANNKK!" I felt the ground underneath shake, he wasn't far from me. It wasn't easy to run, as I was partially weak and sore. But hey, at least I got away before he tried to smack me into the ground. I fell and landed beside Rochelle, while trying to shoot the big ape. Nick pulled out a molotov and threw it at the Tank, and now we were being chased by a flaming Tank. It was kind of scary, but it slowed the big lug from slamming us in to the ground. After running and shooting for sometime, he finally fell limp and died. What a relief...

The sound of a helicopter coming by grabbed our attention. We were going to be saved! Yes! Finally! A step closer to going to New Orleans.

But of course, leaving wasn't going to be easy.

"MAKE A RUN FOR IT!" Ellis screamed as he basically sprinted towards the helicopter. Coach lagged back for a little, huffing and puffing. "Here, let me help you Coach." I was going to place his arm around my shoulder, but he stopped. "I'm all good young'un. Can't help it if my knees are weak." He gave a weak chuckle.

"At least let me give you some adrenaline." I handed it to him, which he used to my pleasure.

"Hurryy up! Get in the damn chopper!" Nick shouted. I got in first, and then helped Coach up in. A Tank began throwing cement and ran towards us, which began to freak me out. Coach made it in and then we began to lift off, away from this dark carnival. I let out a sigh, now we can get some rest, or squeeze in some sleep.

"Hey, now we all can get some some rest, huh? That's where i'm headin'. " Ellis leaned against his seat, lowering his cap, smiling. "Night ya'll."

Then that's what everyone began to go, except for Nick. "You're not going to rest?" He shrugged.

"Ehh.. Maybe later. Don't worry about me kid. Go to sleep or chill, i'll keep on eye on you all." I found Nick to be caring in a sort of tough ass way, but hey... He was just looking out for us. Which was nice coming from him. Deciding to join everyone, I leaned back, and closed my eyes.

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes and stretched my back. The pain in my chest throbbed just a bit, but I dismissed it, not wanting to bother anyone at the moment. Looking around, Ellis, Ro, and Coach were still asleep. And I was shocked in a way that Nick was sleeping as well. Maybe I should go back to sleep? Nick groaned and rubbed his temples. He found me looking at him, which I hope didn't creep him out.<p>

"Hey kiddo, You all rested up?"

"Yup, just looking around I guess." He shuffled around and leaned back. There was a weird noise coming from where the pilot was. Nick turned to spy on the pilot, who was oddly quiet. He talked for a while, but later on during the trip, he seemed to quiet down. I myself was beginning to get paranoid at his sudden silence.

"Hey, pilot. Where are we going?" I swear I heard a low growl coming from the pilot. It was probably me being so tired, from the lack of sleep. Suddenly the helicopter jerked and I saw the pilot jump from his seat and lunge at Nick.

"HOLY SHIT!" He pulled out his magnum, trying to get a good aim at the pilot's head.

"What's goin' on here?" Coach yelled, as Rochelle and Ellis struggled to get up. A loud bang along with a slight thud, I turned to see the pilot dead on the ground. Nick panted after his brawl. Eyes trailed onto the dead pilot. One question seemed to cling in the air.

Who was driving the chopper?

* * *

><p>"Ugh... Oh my head..." I whimpered as I propped myself to my elbows. I searched the area looking for a familiar face, or body, either one would work. My jeans had a tear in them on my shin, and a gash as well. Getting up slowly, the sudden pain in my chest made me recoil and hunch over in pain. I had to ignore it, as I went to find the others.<p>

"Ro? Coach? Nick!..." There was nothing but helicopter parts and a small fire in front of me. An uneasy feeling overwhelmed me as I frantically spun in one place, looking for these people.

"Ellis?" I whimpered, defeated. A hand on my shoulder frightened me, and in an instant I elbowed the thing behind me. A grunt, followed with a thud made me turn around, and well... Freak out.

"What the hell? Ellis!" He lied on the ground, hand on his chest as he smiled weakly. "H-hey there Cal." He coughed a couple times, and groaned. Not helping it, I just rolled my eyes and crouched just so I can be on eye level with him.

"I can't help but seem to get hurt 'round ya, huh?"

"It seems like it overalls." I held my hand out so I can at least attempt to help him up. He took it and got up, to my ease.

"Did I hit you hard?" Ellis brushed the front of his shirt, and tipped his hat towards my direction. "No ma'am, though lemme tell yew. Yew got a strong arm there." I smiled at him, and flicked of his cap.

"Lets get going cowboy. We gotta find Nick, Ro, and Coach before you give me more compliments."

* * *

><p>We all met up, and gathered whatever weapons we could find. But of course, Nick and Ellis start going at each other. "Nick! What the hell! You shot the pilot!"<p>

"Well he wasn't doing a good job once he became a ZOMBIE!"

"True true... But he was our pilot!" It was already bad enough that we were stuck in what it seemed like a tiny country place, worse that there were infected in here. To add two males arguing in here just added more misery in this place. The pain in my chest didn't ease up at all and the bickering didn't help at all. It seemed harder and harder to hide the pain. Oh this wasn't going good at all...

"Hey look! A lil' town we got here!" Being too distracted by other things, I didn't notice that they stopped arguing. The town was tight knit, small, and run over with zombies. Ugh, and from it looked like it, it was a hillbilly sort of town. And I swear, there is going to be a swamp around here somewhere.

A distant sound alerted me, making me paranoid. I turned around and realized I isolated myself from the group. Earning a self smack to the face, I found them not so far ahead from me. Then I swear, I heard a moose nearby. Then this got me thinking, how do I know what a moose sounds like?

A sweeping force came by and took me by surprise. It rammed into something before pounding me into the ground. My screams and cries were shrouded with 'ouffs' from slamming onto the dirt ground. Footsteps came by, and then the sounds of guns filled up the small area I was in. It was a Charger, and damn did he have a grip on me. My chest began throbbing as his enlarged arm crushed my ribs. After what it felt like forever, he went limp and I began gasping for air.

"You alright there Cal?" Coach pulled me up as I struggled to breath for air. I flailed my hands around, telling them not to worry. Repeated words of "Are you sure?" and "Don't run off next time" made me eventually glare at all of them, as I managed to breathe once more. There was no time to worry now, the quicker we get this over with, the quicker things can return to normal. Walking forward, there was a large river, between where we are now to where we need to get to. I stopped in front of a sign that warned about alligators. Next to it was a Charger tied up and hung. This sent chills down my spine.

"Swimmin' with alligators? Why no thanks." Ellis approached me, while picking up a shotgun from the table beside me.

"Imagine if there were zombie alligators." He shivered a bit.

"Well then hell, we'd all be dead then!" I let out a tiny giggle at his reaction.

"Heh, c'mon now lil' missy, we gotta get movin' 'fore we get left behind a'gin."

Meeting up with Ro, Coach, and Nick, they explained on how they need to get the ferry to cross, but as usual, it was going to cause a ruckus, we were warned to be prepared.

"Ya'll ready to go?" Rochelle questions, loading up her sub-machine gun.

"Lets get a move on." Nick muttered, holding out his dual pistols. Coach pulled the lever, and got the ferry moving. Loud roars from the distance, made me jump a little. If there was one thing to avoid, were Chargers at the moment. Infected poured in everywhere. The soft ground dirt became splattered with red, and dismembered body parts. Meaning growls alerted us of Hunters, Strangled coughs of Smokers, cackling laughs of Jockeys, gurgles of Boomers. It was just a mess of sounds everywhere.

"Eww! I'm covered in puke!" I managed to scream, trying to get ride of bile from my face. My hands were slippery and I couldn't get a good aim at the zombies chasing me.

"The ferry's here! Quick get on!" I was temporarily blind, and hell, the zombies on my back didn't help.

"A little help here! I'm blind!"

"Holllld on! I'll get ya!" A pair of firm hands were placed on my side, and before I knew it, I was placed over someone's shoulders. Thankfully, my chest wasn't placed up against the shoulders, so the pain wasn't as an extreme. Getting enough bile out of my eyes, I saw the back of the person who was carrying me, which was no surprise, Ellis. He sped through, and got me in the ferry, before another horde came.

"There ya go, now you better?" I sat on the floor of the ferry, wiping away at my face.

"Yeah, yeah. If only I can get rid of it in my hair. But.. Urr.. Thanks Ellis." I smiled at him. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, which I found cute.

Wait, uh... Nevermind.

I let out a sigh as I looked ahead of us. It was spooky looking, and seemed to resemble a swamp. If there was once thing I can tell you, was that I wasn't going to enjoy this.

**[A/N] I like to get distracted. Anyways, finally after some time, I got through this. It seems a bit choppy and rushed. But, I just want to get through Dark Carnival and get on through Swamp Fever. After some thinking, I think this story might take up 20 chapters. I think. At least between 12-20 chapters. Otherwise, eh. Reviews and critiques are welcomed.**

**EDIT: Fixed most of the spelling and grammar errors. If there's more, tell me?**


	5. Aerophobia

**[A/N] Trying to move this on, school isn't that far away... But I can't afford to rush. Anyhoo, L4D2 belongs to VALVE respectively.**

Once getting off the ferry, the only sound we heard were crickets. Once we stepped foot onto the walkway, it had died down, which was very creepy in my terms. There was a few zombies around us, which was a ease to take them down, but there was an uneasy feeling... The one where something bad is waiting there. A low grunt stopped me in my tracks, it was nerve wrecking... Something was waiting for us. Maybe it was a Tank. I listened closer, and there it was again. The same grunt, and it wasn't happy at all...

I tried to warn the others, but it was too late. The ground began to tremble and the loud roar of a Tank absolutely frightened me.

"SHOOT THAT MOTHER!" I heard Coach scream. I ran to go help the others, taking out my sub machine gun, emptying out my magazines out on him. He knocked back Nick before turning to me. See, the stupid thing was that I isolated myself for a bit, so there was no one behind me. Quickly grabbing the bile jar I held on for sometime, I threw it at the big ape before he knocked me down.

I let out a horrid yelp once I reached the ground, clutching onto the right side of my chest. The pain was something I couldn't avoid anymore, and I realized it once I felt sticky warm liquid run between my fingers. The Tank was still roaming around, trying to swipe at Rochelle. I pulled out my pistols hoping that I wouldn't be a real burden to my group. Zombies pitched in to get rid of the Tank, which took off some weight from my chest. After some struggle, he perished, and died.

Too bad that was cut short with my agonizing cries. Rochelle was the first one to run to my side.

"Oh shit... Uh.. Just stay still uh... " She lifted the side of my shirt slightly, and stared in shock, Her fingers clutched onto the hem. I didn't know what was the issue, it shouldn't be that bad. She called Nick over, and he himself was stunned.

"Whoa... Kiddo, this doesn't look new. Why didn't you tell us?"

"What do you mean? It shouldn't _ACK!_ be that bad." Nick rubbed his temples, and sighed before looking at me hard.

"Kid, the right side of your chest is bruised really bad. The recent cut isn't much, but kid, it's all black and purple here... Shit." This stopped my heart.

"What? It, uh..." I didn't know what to say, and the blood on my fingers didn't help this situation. I felt sick and dizzy, I didn't know whether it was finding out the source of my pain, or the incoming blood loss.

"Come on and lets patch you up." Ellis quickly scrambled to my side and helped me up. He threw me a 'why didn't you tell me either' look. I just shrugged my shoulders sheepishly, too ashamed of everything at the moment.

"The saferoom shouldn't be that far. Hopefully you can last for a little bit longer."

* * *

><p>"Alrighty then... Lets get a good look at that kiddo." Nick signaled me over to him, with a stern look on his face. In a way, I was scared... And afraid of a scolding. He pulled up my shirt to see my injures. "I'm not much of a doctor, but the bruising looks like it's coming from the inside. Probably you have some broken ribs." He poked around it a couple of times, only to hear my pain.<p>

"Feels broken. Lets get you patched up, it should last until we get out of here. Next safe room and we can rest there for a little while. Maybe sleep while you heal up." He wrapped my my chest with gauze, and as I expected it, got scolded for hiding back my injures. "Next time don't hold out on shit like this. If you kept on going like this, hell... You could have gotten your wounds infected and would be dead no time." It went on for awhile, me squeezing in apologies as he scolded me lightly.

" Now now Nick, c'mon. I mean, she probably was thinkin' 'bout us and di'nt wanna bother us."

"Look Ellis, now isn't the time. If you could see it the way I can, then you'd understand. We can't afford to have anyone sick or injured. Got me?"

"But Nick-"

"No Ellis-"

"Can you both shut up so we can hurry this up?" For a second I thought it was me saying that, but I turned to see Rochelle with hands on her hips. "Can both of you just stop already. The poor girl can defend herself, Ellis. And Nick, don't scold her so much. Ugh, just hand over the gauze so I can heal her up." Grumpily Nick handed the gauze, along with me, over to Rochelle.

"Whew... Those boys. Sorry Cal, I just knew you didn't like to be in the middle of their silly argument." I shrugged.

"I just didn't know what to say, I'm not one to speak up during an argument." I looked down at my fingers, fidgeting in my lap as Ro finished up wrapping my chest.

"Done, and sweetie... Don't hold out on us. Consider us as family. We care for you." She smiled sweetly, and then patted my back gently. It was then I had to realize that yeah... They were my family. I mean, it hasn't been long, but we stuck through together and all, so heh. I suppose so.

"All right then, now then that's settled, y'all ready to go?" I picked up the bar to the safe room and dropped it, seeing that everyone was prepared as can be. Now, I knew we were entering a swamp, but I expected_land and then water_, not the other way around. So of course, I fell in the swamp water, flailing around until I break surface.

Ellis pulled me up, trying to stifle a laugh as I got out. "Damn Cal, try tah look in front of ya. We can't afford to have yuh drown in this swamp water." I smacked his arm, glaring at him as he just burst out in fits of laughter.

"Oh har de har har. Just you wait, those blood farmers you've been talking about will come after you. Just wait. Karma's a bitch." Moving ahead through the murky water, Ellis trailed behind me. "Now Cal, don't chu-"

Something rapidly moved in the water and attacked Ellis, dragging him underwater. I suddenly regretted my word towards him, and went after him. There was this what looked like a mud man attacking him. It sure was creepy looking, but no time for that. I gripped on a axe I found not to far away and decapitated the mud man. Ellis of course struggled to get back on his feet, even with my help.

"W-wha' the hell was that thing? Scared the shit outta me!" I rolled my eyes as I pulled him on his feet.

"Karma."

* * *

><p>A little bit more into the swamp and we stumbled upon suitcases, tossed and open. Sure we've seen suitcases before, but it wasn't like there was one or two, there was like a trail until we ran into the mother load. An airplane.<p>

"Holy shit... Look at all the bodies." I heard Rochelle. I remember watching horror movies about people who were boarded on an airplane and then it crashed, with everyone on it dying. Just looking at the scene made me shiver, it wasn't a pretty sigh that's for sure. Moving along through, we ran into an obstacle, though it wasn't such a big surprise.

"Well, looks like we gonna have to open up this emergency exit door. Now once I open it up, shit load of 'em zombies gonna be comin', ready?"

"Yup." Coach began a count down, and then quickly opened it, sending the door flying. After a silent pause, a loud ringing alarm went of, and then the roar of incoming hordes.

It became a mess.

"Long necked bitch!" I aimed my rifle at the Spitter, getting her, while shoving back infected from getting a nice swipe at me. They all kept on coming, and the mud men didn't help. They blurred your vision with murky water and/or mud while they clawed at you. It became pretty annoying. The sound of a moose, I mean Charger wasn't that far away, but it signaled a no good notion. Ellis must have read my mind or something cause he stood right beside me, trying to secure me.

"I gotcha darlin'." The sound of quick running feet caught my attention. Looking ahead, an incoming Charger made me stop in my tracks frozen. The zombies crowded me and I couldn't move anywhere, I was stuck. Not even a forceful shove helped at all.

"Look out!" I was pushed onto the ground, landing on my arms. I turned to look at Ellis, slamming on the ground by a Charger. It pissed me off in a way that he went ahead and put himself in my position, but it was noly trying to help. And I found it to be brave of him. I got a grip on my axe and started whacking the back of the one armed freak.

"Let go of him you moose sounding thing!" He finally went limp and let go of Ellis, who was busy trying to regulate his breathing. I kneeled beside him, trying to get him up.

"Damn, it got me good. Heh."

"Ellis, come on. We can't afford to have two injured people on the team now, can we?" He blushed a little, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"W-well... Yew were hurt enough and stuff and I-I dunno, man." I sighed and don't know why but kissed him lightly on the cheek. "No need to be the hero, El. I'll be fine."

That set him off, stuttering and blushing like a mad man. The others couldn't help but notice, and chuckled at the sight.

"Lets get going, all this is gonna get me a cavity." Nick scoffed.

* * *

><p>"Ahh... Well then, good thing this safe room has a room in it. Now how are we all gonna rest in here?" Coach turned to us, figuring out how this was going to work.<p>

"Well, there's a couch, bathtub, and a mattress that can hold 2 people. Then there's the floor..." Nick looked over this for a bit.

"Well, the girls can sleep in the room, Coach can take the couch, and me and Ellis can decide whether we can take the tub or floor."

"Don't we haveta keep a look out? 'Case there be any zombies comin' in or somethin'?"

"Good point, well I'm wide awake, so I can take the floor."

"Ima go take the couch, bein' a big man and all. Hope y'all don't mind."

"Go on ahead and take the couch big man." It went on like this for a bit until Rochelle said this:

"You know, i'm not that tired either. How about if I just sleep in the bathtub, incase if anything?" Nick snapped at Rochelle, glaring at her.

"Whoa whoa wait. You wanna let overalls and miss injured over there sleep together in one bed? No can do."

"Now Nick, I ain't gonna do anything to that girl. Hell, I'm kinda hurtin' after that damn Hunter got me." I sat and said nothing, even when they were all looking at me. It was... Weird and creepy. Nick scoffed, and then let in.

"Alright, but if I hear anything. I won't hesitate to shoot you Ellis." Ellis looked at Nick, blushing madly, and flailed his arms around.

"W-whaaat? N-now Nick, that ain't me!" Nick smirked and leaned against the wall.

"Just get some sleep." We both headed to the room, both trying to hide our blushes. Once in the room, I didn't wait for him to lie down or anything, I immediately lied on the soft, yet a bit lumpy bed. Ellis slowly lied beside me, shuffling around. He was probably awkward about it as I was, but it didn't matter, I needed to sleep. A lit nudge got me out of my mind.

"Uh... Cal?"

"Yes Ellis?" I mumbled a bit. He stayed quiet for a bit, which got me wondering what the hell he was thinking. So I turned around to face him.

"Uh... W-why'd ya kiss me? I mean, you ain't seem the one to, 'yunno, share hugs and kisses." That caught me off guard.

"Well, I dunno. It's like a princess kissing a knight. It was generous for you saving my ass when that Charger was trying to get me, after, you know what happened."

"Uhh... Well it was nothin', I knew you were hurtin' and stuff and it was bad enough." I chuckled under my breath, then lied on my back.

"As I said Ellis, you don't have to be the hero. I'll get better. It's best not to worry about me." He smiled and lied on his back as well.

"Well whatever yew say lil missy." As the silence settled in, I kicked myself mentally for the things I should tell him. Lately it's been as if I've grown attached to him. But, knowing that he'll find a nice blond, with a nice curve body and big rack. They'll both be into cars and the Midnight Riders. As for me? Heh, i'll be a flat chested tiny chick, who's a waiting for the moment she can officially be an artist. It would be stupid of me to say I'm growing in 'likes' with him.

We're in the middle of a zombie invasion.

It's stupid.

**[A/N] Ahhh... Done done done.**

**Well, I have to revise the other chapter since you guys pointed out spelling mistakes and i'll try to get to that. It's less than a week before school starts and I reached my objective of up to 5 Chapters. This story is going to take sometime, but bare with me for updates. As always, critiques and reviews are welcomed!]**


	6. Hydrophobia

**[A/N] ****Pinned back Wings****: Aww thanks! The scene made me giggle as I read over it. I'm glad you liked it! It's weird though, if I play as anyone, Ellis and Nick always want to heal me. xD**

**FreshZombieSlayer:**** Thank ye kindly. Sorry about the confusion, if you haven't figured it out, it's just Cal and Ellis speaking back and forth. I usually tend to do that in conversations. **

I felt a hand shake me out of my sleep, which I was a bit annoyed at. I mumbled the usual 'Five more minutes' sorta thing, which earned me a push off the mattress.

"Agh! W-whaaa... Rochelle?" She smirked at me, holding her shotgun in both hands.

"Come one girl! You can't sleep all day ya know! Gotta kick some zombie ass." I let out a grunt as I stiffly got up and stretched. The pain has gone away and wasn't as severe as it was before. It was a relief, and hopefully it wouldn't came back for awhile. Walking out, I picked up my rifle from the table and reloaded it, getting ready before we leave. Things stayed quiet for a bit, the only sound heard inside was the shuffling of our feet and clicks of our guns. Someone behind me nudged me, and I turned around to see Ellis, grinning as usual.

"So how ya sleep Cal?" I couldn't help it but smile back.

"It was a great sleep. Though it was a stiff sleep, but all good." I said lightly, too busy cleaning my axe. He smiled at me once more and sat beside me. I was wondering what was up with him. For sometime he's been quite protective of me, or something. Maybe it's just me... It doesn't matter.

The safe room door opened and out we went into this tiny town. Or if you want to, call it a village. Either one works.

Mud men lingered around and attacked us, along with the other common infected. There wasn't much around, which was in a way a relief. We checked around for a Tank incase, since it was quiet... And to our relief we didn't hear a low grunt. I let out a sigh of relief and went along with everyone else. I began to think about stuff, like, what would happen once this is all over with? Like everyone else, I was sore, tired, and needed some sleep. My arms began to get weak and I couldn't really swing as best as I was able to when I first knocked Ellis down.

Ellis... I can't help but think about him at times. I can keep my feelings to myself, but not for long. Looking at him now, him and Coach were talking, laughing while clearing the path from infected. Rochelle and Nick were near each other, but not exactly 'close'. And here I am, lingering behind them. In all honesty, I really don't think i'll last long.

A splash underneath me caught my attention, and there was a puddle with my reflection.

I leaned over and stared in the murky puddle, staring at my face.

I had horrible bags under my eyes, but they were barely visible underneath some of the blood, which I wasn't sure was either mine or from the infected. Also there was a bruises, near the tip of my chin to another on my upper left forehead from my first run in with Ellis.

I didn't want to see anymore. I got up and tried to catch up with the group.

Let me just pray to whoever is up their that we'll make it alive.

* * *

><p>"A LITTLE HELP HERE..." I jerked my body to locate the sound of distress. It came from Nick who was yelling for help, on the ground, shooting back infected. I got all the strength I had left and ran to help him, knocking zombies down with my axe. Clumsily, I got on my hands and knees, helping him up.<p>

"Get up get up..." I breathed heavily, struggling to get him up. Everything was sore, and especially after the horde we had to face,

Oh boy, I needed some rest.

Nick got up, and brushed off his suit. I dug around in my pockets for some pills, but came up with adrenaline.

"Uhh... Here, take this. You need it." He let out a low cough, before looking at what was in my hand. Not even giving it a second glance, he turned his back on the object, and limped away.

"Keep it kid, save if for yourself." I let out a low groan. There was no time for this 'I'm tough' bullshit.

"Nick just take it. I'm not the one limping around like some crippled asshole. Take it, or at least hold onto it." He gave me a stern look, a bit surprised that I yelled at him. Nick took it and shoved it down into his pocket. Though I couldn't tell, I swear I saw a smirk on his face.

I can hold my ground down, and be a bitch about it too.

A safe house wasn't far away and we finally made it... Well, almost. Almost there. Rochelle helped a limping Nick, Ellis stayed behind me while Coach was in front of us, leading the way. "There's the safe house y'all." I let out a sigh of relief, glad that we are one step closer to New Orleans.

I can't wait, to see family there. Of course CEDA will be there, so I don't expect a easy time, but just as long as we get there, things will become better. The sound of a metal door opening caught my attention, as I was spacing out again.

Rochelle first brought Nick in, brining him to the table with supplies. Then came in Coach, who slightly limped, probably from his bad knee.

"What'chu waitin' for darlin'? Get in befo' them things start to come. " I noticed Ellis was behind me, holding the door. Snapping back into my senses, I rushed into the room, nearly tripping over my feet. The door shut behind, and I took a long breath in, then sat on the ground. The sleepiness started to settle in, and I tried to push it away, but it was impossible, seeing how all of us were sore and just wanted to catch some extra hours of sleep.

Nick cursed under his breath as Rochelle began healing him up. Ellis plopped right beside me, his back against the wall just like mine. I turned my head slightly to notice him looking over me. His blue eyes caught mine, then smiled, which caused me to smile meekly. Ellis nudged me slightly, trying to start a conversation.

"So.. We're gettin' close, huh?" I nodded, smiling even more now that he brought it up.

"I can't wait, I get to see Spencer, and probably even my family and friends." I turned my head at him to see Ellis stare at the ground. "Uh... What about you?"

"Huh?" He looked at me confused. I sighed.

"What are you going to do once we get to New Orleans? Any sort of family you are expecting?" Ellis stared at the ceiling now, thinking.

"Well, fer sure mah Momma... I want yuh to meet her her. Also, my two best friends, Keith an' Dave. Man, I can't wait! Hope they're all right though..." I placed a hand on his arm, trying to send a reassuring feeling to him. Yes, I understood how he felt. I was worried whether or not Spencer actually made it alive, or even my mom.

An arm was wrapped around my back, and it came to my attention that I was hugging Ellis, or vice versa. It was comforting, seeing as how Ellis was three times my size, and he was a pretty built guy... Working with cars... His muscles...

I stopped and pushed Ellis away, my face red.

"W-what's wrong Cal? Somethin' I did?" I shook my head, not being able to show my face to him.

"I.. Uh.. Nothing nothing! Umm... Just getting sleepy. Shouldn't we get ready before we leave?" Ellis helped me up, and we made our way to the table, beside Coach who was polishing his shotgun. My fingers were unsteady as I reloaded my weapon, from the lack of sleep I haven't gotten. After sometime, we opened up the door and stepped out to be greeted by a bright sun and infected. Instead of taking everyone of them out one by one, we decided to run through and hurry to the plantation house. Of course, there were couple of infected who had caught us, but we quickly put them down, before a horde came after us.

Running can take a toll on you, but gladly enough we made it to the plantation house, avoiding much attention as possible. We climbed up the ladder and faced a gaping hole on the ground. "Well then, who's gonna go first?" Nick muttered.

I stepped up, but Ellis ran ahead of me. I let this go and went after him, glancing around at the run down mansion. Vines grew in, wrapping it's leaves around the stairs, peaking out of cracks and walls. It was huge, which made me wonder who would live in this place. Then again, it made me realize that whoever did, didn't last long in here.

Scavenging through the mansion, we came up with more than needed. "Alright then, now to find that radio..." Coach muttered. There was a far off static voice outside, which was most likely the radio. Shooting any infected around, we reached the radio. Ellis picked up answering the guy.

" 'Ello?"

"Why hello there... Haven't heard another voice in days. Where y'all at?"

"We're at tha' Plantation House."

"Well alright then, i'll be there in a few. Hold on tight till then." Ellis then turned to all of us, slightly smiling.

"Alright y'all, tha' man's gonna be here ina bit. So let's all go and get ready 'fore more a them things come and get us." A slow unsettling feeling rumbled in my stomach.

Either it was the fact that I was hungry or that I had a feeling that something soon was going to happen. Either or, I just wanted to leave out of this place.

* * *

><p>"LETS MOVE! C'MON NOW!" The mansion became packed with infected, roaming the insides and tearing it apart. Everyone was left weary after fighting the Tank... And it was no simple task since we were stuck inside.<p>

I stood beside Coach who was panting heavily. Any moment now the boat should be here, and we'll be taken to safety. Oh if only time can move by faster.. If only...

Now we were all outside, taking a slight break from shooting. The horde has stopped... Letting us catch our breaths. But this wasn't a good sign.

"Everyone heal up, I know what we're expecting..." Nick huffed. Ellis came and tapped me on the shoulder, holding a bottle of pills. I couldn't help but smile since, well, he had this goofy look on his face.

"Take these, ya gonna need them darlin'."

"And what about yourself?" I questioned.

"Naw, I got mahself a med kit. I'll be all fine. Don'tchu worry." He winked at me before turning to check on Coach. I shoved the pills in my pocket, and began reloading my gun.

The ground started to tremble, which made me drop my clips. Then it all came in an instant.

"TANNNNKKKK." A big slab of concrete landed beside me, making me land somewhere near the bushes. Bullets flew, and roars filled the air, something I wasn't ready for yet.

"Fuck fuck fuckkkk... I am soo not ready..." I muttered as I grabbed my rifle and began shooting off infected.

"Cal!" An arm grabbed me pulling me aside.

"Ellis? Where's everyone else?" He was breathing heavily, loading his pistols.

"They're somewhere out there. Fightin' tha' Tank. I was lookin' for ya. Try ta stay close. Virgil should be close." He helped me up and picked off infected one by one. From behind a bush there was another Tank, parting away the horde to get to us.

"Ya ready Cal?" I didn't know whether to scream 'HELL YES' or shake my head in fear. So the only logical thing I did was take out a molotov I've had and throw it at the beast.

The monster roared in pain and limped to us. After some time, running around, the Tank perished and fell with a thud. Me and Ellis sighed a breath of relief. Nick, Ro, and Coach joined us and we all were happy to know that we've made it. The gate doors burst through, and a loud voice boomed over a microphone.

"HURRY UP NOW. I CAN'T WAIT MUCH." We all scattered and quickly ran to the boat. Just as the boat came, so did a horde, and oh look... A Tank.

I lingered a bit behind to shoot off the horde. Rochelle helped Coach as he limped, Ellis and Nick ran off ahead.

"Come on Cal! Get in the boat!" I ran, only to be spat on by a Spitter.

"Oh fuck!" I cried as I slipped on the Spitter goo and landed on my bandaged arm. The wounds on my arm weren't fully healed, but at this rate, they weren't going to be healed.

Nick jumped off the boat and carried me to the boat, just in time before the horde got me. "Kid you gotta stop getting left behind like this. We can't leave you for dead." I chuckled a bit. He was like the funny uncle who takes care of you.

Once on the boat, Virgil drove off, and we all cheered in celebration for leaving this place. One step closer to New Orleans. I was so excited, I couldn't contain it. I wanted to cry, but I held on strong.

Now to enjoy this small cruise...

* * *

><p><strong>[AN] I know it's been awhile since I updated, by heeeyyyyyyy. I'm still alive. I wasn't expecting to update anytime soon but someone sent me a message via tumblr and they liked my story so much. So I decided to update. There you go lovely Anon! Now. Things should be picking up in Hard Rain and The Parish. I'll be working on the next chapters pretty soon. School can be such a burden. But i'm close to graduation so, yes.**

**Critiques and reviews are appreciated. (:**

**P.S... The title of this chapter is suppose to be the fear of swamps. But since I couldn't find the scientfic word for it, I'm using the fear of water. Just an FYI.**


	7. Amaxophobia

**[A/N] Thanks for all the lovely reviews. Now for some replies:**

**Pinned back Wings: I appreciate the critique! I rushed a bit with the last chapter since I wanted to move things along with the area and get onto Hard Rain. Yes, there will be a couple more chapters after The Parish. But I won't say more than that. Thanks!**

**groovehbeanz & WhimsicalBreeze3897 & moonwolf 123 : Thanks! I'm updating as much as I can!**

Water smacked the sides of the boat as it made it's way through the river. I lied my head on the floor, scratching at the peeling paint on the side of the boat. Nick and Rochelle went into the captain's quarters to talk to Virgil, the man who rescued us from the plantation. Coach dug his way through some food that Virgil left out for us. Ellis leaned his back against a wall, sleeping. Coach must've caught me eyeing at Ellis or something, because there was a _'psst'_ that reached out for my attention.

"What's wrong Coach?" He let a low chuckle as he handed me a snack bar to munch on.

"Girl, I see how you look at that boy. And I see how he looks at you." I let out a nervous laugh, and began nibbling on the snack bar.

"There's nothing on between us Coach. That I'm pretty sure of." This comment earned another chuckle from the big man. I gave him a questioning look, he shot back a smirk.

"Cal, if there's one thing I know, it's romance." I scoffed as he said that. The idea of romance in the middle of an apocalypse is stupid. Who has time to be all lovely dovey when there's flesh eating zombies around waiting to eat our insides?

"Look, now I ain't know if you are inta' that sorta stuff. But girl, I see how the fella looks at ya. I'll just tell you that much." I stayed quiet picking at my snack bar. Coach nodded at me before getting up to go speak to Rochelle and Nick who came back from taking to Virgil. I couldn't tell if Coach was trying to be nice or honest. Ellis is a nice guy, sure. But me and Ellis? It'd be like a rich snobby cheerleader hooking up with the social outcast in high school. It was a comforting idea to me, seeing that maybe possibly... I was liking it? But the guy possibly has a nice gal back home waiting for him or something.

"Alright, listen up." Nick walked in with Rochelle behind him. I nudged Ellis from his nap and pointed in Nick's direction.

"Ahem... Virgil is willing to take us to New Orleans... But he's low on gas. So we'll have to make a quick pit stop somewhere to get some gas. So rest up for now, and we'll be heading out soon."

I let out a sigh. It was going to be a bit hard resting for me. I'm so close, yet I feel so far away... What if Spencer is dead? Eaten alive by a zombie, or CEDA killed him thinking he was infected? It was my fault, I should've went with him rather than hiding like the coward I am. Ugh this is all so stressful, I need to rest up before I go and fetch more gas, but these thoughts are driving me and crazy and this goddamn burn is itching like hell.

Rochelle must have noticed me itching or something. One moment she's chatting with Nick, the next she's beside me holding my arm.

"Stop itching and let me get a good look at your arm." She sweetly asked. I nodded and watched as she unraveled the wore out bandages. Rochelle scrunched her face up, which I took as a sigh that my arm wasn't in good condition...

"I uhh... Haven't had time to really to change them or anything..." I mumble sheepishly. Honestly I really forgot about the wounds. It was the least of my worries.

"Oh man... Cal if you don't change these bandages or at least check em, you'll get a nasty infection!" I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly, trying to hide my face. Rochelle sighed and pulled out fresh new wrappings and gauze. I watched intently as she wrapped my arm, taking her time and treating my arm as if it's a precious artifact.

She lightly patted my arm and gave me a smile. "All done, now you better take care of that arm missy. Don't want to lose it do you?"

I felt like a child swaying his head side to side, looking up to his mother. Rochelle let out a small laugh, "Go get some sleep. Soon we'll go and run that errand for Virgil and then be on our way to New Orleans!"

Once Rochelle left to go speak to Coach, I decided to take her advice and get some sleep before going off to get gas for the man. Just the thought of getting closer and closer got me excited. Going home... With Spencer and my mom... Away from those flesh eating monsters. I lied back and let those thoughts comfort me. Maybe i'll finally get some decent sleep.

* * *

><p>A hand grabbed my shoulder and shook me a bit. My response was to swat the hand and mumble to that hand 'give me five more minutes.' The hand's response was to flick me in the ear.<p>

"Ouch! Hey!" I got up quickly to glare at Nick who let out a low chuckle.

"Wake up kiddo. We got to go and get gas." I rubbed my ear as I grabbed my rifle and scowled at Nick. I didn't take long to pack, all we really needed was our guns and heath pack.

Walking out and facing the harsh sunlight, I saw that there was an abandoned fast food joint. Some groans and hisses notified me that there were some infected roaming around.

"Signal at me when ya'll get the gas." And with that Virgil drove off. We all looked at each and went head first into the Burger place. Shooting off a couple of infected, we found more weapons, health packs, and pipes.

"Hey ya'll, found some pipebombs 'ere!" Ellis handed one to me quickly before going off to grab Boomer bile. None of us really thought about grabbing much supplies since we thought the nearest gas station shouldn't be far.

"Oh you gotta be SHITTING ME..." I heard Nick shout afar. Me and Ellis being the only one left in the burger joint, we ran off to regroup with the rest to see what was the issue. A big flashing sign that read 'NEXT GAS 2 MILES'

"Aw man..." Coach muttered.

"Well, there's no point standing around groaning. C'mon guys, just 2 more miles ahead..." There was a drip of water that landed on my cheek. Looking up I saw dark clouds heading over here. Great, first no gas and now a storm, what else can go bad?

"Does anyone hear a Witch?" I mentally slapped myself. This wasn't going to be easy at all.

* * *

><p><strong>[AN] Sorry for the long wait. So much has ****happened now. I started college a couple of weeks ago and now i'm on the hunt for a job to help with bills. Well... Anyways, i'll try my best to update. I haven't forgotten about this story and i'll try to get back to my other TF2 story. Critique and reviews are always welcomed. Also... I might see if I can draw a picture of Cal and post it up somewhere. Whether it be on my deviantART or tumblr. Thanks for your patience guys!**

**p.s. If you're confused by the name of this chapter, since it means 'fear of riding in cars/any vehicle', I consider a boat to be a vehicle and I couldn't find a technical name for the fear of boats. **


	8. Claustrophobia

**[A/N] BritishWaffleSyrup, Sally Fantastic, SomeoneThatExists & Chase Clemons: Thanks very much for the reviews! I appreciate the kind words!**

**windharmony: Oh gosh thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I'm sorry but I couldn't see the link to your deviantART, so if you give me your username i'll look it up. Thanks so much! x)  
><strong>

**The whole thing with the chapters being phobia names are that they're phobia's that would stop the survivors from getting through. If you look up some of the phobia names they deal with what goes on in that chapter. I'm glad you like the concept! :D**

* * *

><p>It started to drizzle a bit, not that bad, but I knew it would get bad. I once again had to shake off some water from my hair.<p>

There was a loud cry from somewhere, and we all knew it was a Witch.

"Now ya'll stay quiet and try to walk 'round her. Can't afford to get anyone hurt." Coach whispered before we decided to walk past her. This was going to be a pain.

I was honestly hoping that we wouldn't have to walk much more to get gas, but no... 2 more miles ahead and we can finally get gas. I just hope we don't run out of supplies and have to end up dragging our half dead bodies onto Virgil's boat.

I let out a groan as my foot bumped into something. I could barely see anything since there was a bunch of debris everywhere.

We entered this building that was probably part of the Sugar Mill. There was a sign that read 'STAY WAY WITCHES'. It was n omen as what was going to be coming for us.

"Goddammit, is that another Witch?" Nick peeked his head out the corner of the door frame, noticing a wandering Witch.

"This place must attract lots of Witches." Rochelle suggested. It seemed like it since we just passed one walking upstairs and crying.

"Maybe Witches like sugar?" Ellis added. Everyone turned and look at him.

"What? I remember when Keith broke up with his old girlfriend and she sat home cryin' all day eatin' sweet stuff like ice cream an' brownies an' cake an'-"

"Okay Ellis we get it."

One by one, we all passed the Witch quickly and without a sound. The rain started pattering and it echoed through the sugar mill.

So it was a combination of Witch cries and rain.

So far there weren't much infected, which was a plus on our side. But there were other infected hanging around...

"JOCKEY!" It's shaky laughter echoed through, which sent us all running.

"SHIT! Get this back humper offa me!" Ellis screamed as he tried to pry off the Jockey from his head. A low heavy breathing told us that Ellis was getting to close to a Witch.

"ELLIS! Try to go the other way! You're near a Witch!" I pulled out my baseball bat and tried to smack the thing off. After 4 attempted the Jockey was knocked off and tried to look for a new survivor to tackle. Nick quickly came up and shot it before it leaped.

"Come on, lets get this over with. The rain is starting to pick up."

* * *

><p>The elevator sure made a lot of noise coming up. It was no surprise that a horde followed shortly.<p>

"JOCKEY!"

"Hoodie man!"

"BOOMER!"

I was pressed up against the elevator, wiping Boomer bile from my eyes. I shot before hearing the gurgling sound and ended up splattered in puke. I felt a large breeze against my back and slowly turning back I saw how dangerously close I was to the edge.

"Oh boy that's close. I just gotta-" A hand came from behind and shoved me. I slipped on some leftover boomer bile and fell.

I let out a terrified shriek before clinging onto the ledge. The baseball that I held onto slipped from my hands and dropped. I didn't know if anyone could hear me over the horde that they were fighting of. God did I feel so useless, I somehow managed to get myself into this position and now here I am hanging onto dear life.

"If there is any God up there, please help me. I don't want to die just yet. Can I die another way? Like zombie alligators coming to eat me or blood farmers harvesting my body? Sounds better than falling to my death." My hand slipped a bit from the bile and I let out a whimper. I decided to give it another go...

"HEY, anyone there not busy? I'm slipping over here!" There was a muffled cry somewhere and I couldn't tell if it was a human cry or infected. I was on the verge of just giving up, I couldn't hold any longer.

"Hold on there! I gotcha!" Ellis gripped onto my arms and managed to pull me up. I pushed my feet up against the side of the building giving Ellis a bit help. It wasn't much help since the side of the building was wet and my sneakers just sort of slipped. Once I got up I lied on the floor and let out a breath of relief, Ellis doing the same.

"Whew... Thank you Ellis... I swear I would've just let go and fell." He looked over me, with a puzzled look.

"Now why would ya wanna do that?" I let out a sheepish laugh.

"I was... I don't know. I couldn't hold on longer." He wriggled his fingers between my fingers and held two of my fingers.

"Don'tchu ever think of dyin' on me. I swear if you ever do... I just.. I don't wanna think about it." I let out a weak smile. I guess i'll hold on a bit more longer. For him.

"Now if you two love birds are done, can we get a move on?" Nick scoffed, wiping blood from his brow. Ellis got up and helped me on my feet.

We all got into the small elevator and prepared to go through the sugar cane field. It was very cramped and tiny, I could barely move my arm.

Once we reached down, Coach stopped us before we went through the field. "Now before ya'll head on into that field, we gotta stick together. Otha'wise we'll all just get lost. And maybe even killed 'cause of them Witches." A chilling cry echoed, making me shiver and grip onto my rifle.

"Lets follow this pipe, it'll lead us to the gas station." Coach took the lead, and we all followed behind him. A couple of wandering infected stood, and we quickly dispatched them before any of them made a sound.

The rain didn't seem to ease up, and it looked like more gray clouds have gathered over this town. Great, just what we needed.

The ground began to crumble underneath out feet as we exited the fields. A loud roar made it's way to us.

"TANNNKKK." Ellis screamed as the big gorilla lunged at Coach. He backed up quickly and pulled out his AK-47.

"SHOOT THAT MOTHER." The Tank knocked into Rochelle, sending her off her feet. Nick went to her aid, and I stepped in and helped defend him as he helped Rochelle up.

"Go take her in! This Tank has had it." A final roar was let out before falling to the ground with a thud.

Whew, now that that was over.

Ellis handed me some pills, along with a smile. I smiled back.

We entered the safe room and shut it behind us. There were writings all over the walls saying to only take on gas tank per person. Or else they'll be shot on sight.

"Well, lets just take some and get this over with, huh?" Nick muttered as he loaded up his shotgun. There was a down pour of rain which was not a good sign.

"Hey, at least we get ta' take a shower out there huh?" Ellis chuckled. Rochelle held back a laugh as Nick gave him a stern look.

"All right all right, come on now. Let's get this shit over with." Coach cocked his gun and shrugged his shoulders.

* * *

><p><strong>[AN] ALRIGHTY! Next Chapter will be wayy much better. I'm in the middle of midterms right now and it's just busy and a mess. Thanks to those who reviewed! Critiques and reviews are always welcomed.**


	9. Athazagoraphobia

**[A/N] ****Fudgebrowniez: Thank you very much, i'm glad you like it very much. :D Thanks for the ****critique. I know I haven't talked much about Cal, but the reason that she isn't very open, so her telling her entire life story isn't something she does right off the bat. Don't worry, once we get going into The Parish, she'll spill a lot. Sorry about that. As for the fast pacing, it's because I wanted to get through the other chapters a bit quick. Sorry about the last chapter, I was going to focus on it more but I had school work to do and it came out all rushed. I'll be trying to take my time now, especially now since i'm getting closer to the last campaign. Thanks so much for the critique!**

**windharmony: Take your time. You can always contact me on my ****deviant art, which has the same username as my account. But thanks!**

**J: Oh my gosh, thank you so so much for this. I am very flattered by this. I teared up a bit at this. I'm glad you found inspiration through my story, I am very happy for it. What I try to get along with Calypso's character is not much of a random romance and someone who is so invincible, but someone who is flawed and cautious. I love the build up of the moment, where the tinniest things will just make me squeal to myself saying 'omigosh' but honestly thank you so much for this review, i know it's been awhile since i updated, but because of your review i want to try to update again. thank you VERY much.**

* * *

><p>I kept on stepping into puddles. They weren't tiny puddles, they were the kind of puddles that were almost knee deep. And the pouring rain didn't not help at all. I stood next to Ellis, occasionally bumping into him from not seeing where I was walking at.<p>

"'tis alright Cal. I gotcha just stay real close to me and i'll take care of ya." He gave me a quick wink before turning his back on me. I slightly smiled at his gesture.

Maybe before we all split up, go on our own different ways.. I'll tell him. I'll tell him that maybe I like him. And hopefully he'll return those feelings, and we'll be happy like most fairytales end up. But.. Those were kid-ish things... This is reality. I don't expect things to be like fairytales.

"Cal look out!"

I turned my head to face whoever called out to me before slipping into a puddle. The weather wasn't letting up and at this rate i'm afraid we'll all drown here.

"C'mon girl, we ain't got time to swim in these puddles! Lets get going before it starts gettin' reallll bad here!" Coach grabbed my arm and helped me up, holding me before I manage to somehow slip again.

There was a large flash of white, along with the rumble of thunder. The wind picked up and it started to pour.

"Stay together now! We can't afford to lose anyone now!" Nick shouted, holding his rifle up, even though he had no idea where he was pointing it at. Roars echoed, and the patter of feet on damp ground made us aware that a horde was coming at us. As if the storm was bad enough.

One by one, infected dropped.

"GET HIM OFF OF ME!" I heard Nick scream as he held the Hunter back with his gun. I didn't even hear the usual high pitched shriek or anything. We had to get out of here quickly before one of us ends up dead. I don't even want to think of the possibility that one of us will end up dead on this journey to New Orleans. Ellis ran over to Nick and helped get the hooded creature off before killing it.

"C'mon now Nick, can't have ya dyin' on us now." He gave the usual wink, helping Suits up.

The rain died down a bit and it was back to the gray sky, raining. I let out a sigh, wiping whatever blood was on my hands onto my jeans; how much longer are we going to have to endure this?

We made our way back to the elevator and then back to the decaying building. The wind picked up once again and it started to pour.

"Great..." I heard Coach mumble as he loaded his rifle, screeches and roars echoing through the hallways. The patter of rain mixed in with the sound of bullets. At this point I was so used to this.

Hearing gunshots.

Hearing the dying roar of infected.

The sizzling of acid.

The smell of puke.

The sound of a hacking cough.

The impact of hard cement.

The slashing of flesh. It took me awhile to realize that I was underneath a Hunter fighting off with my now broken axe.

I need to stop doozing off, otherwise i'll probably end up dead. I smacked the Hunter off, hearing a sharp crack as he fell off.

I stared at the now broken axe, split in two in my hands, letting the water fall off from my hair. How much longer do we have to endure this...

I want to go home

I want to play games with my stupid older brother

I want the comfort of my home

I _**want...** _

"Cal c'mon now... We ain't got time standin' around... Here, stay beside me and i'll keep an eye on ya." Ellis smiled at me, and it made me smile back. It sometimes surprised me how optimistic he can be through all of this.

* * *

><p>"Alright now ya'll better load up, 'cos once we turn on that sign... Oh boy... There ain't no turning back..." Coach chuckled to himself.<p>

The patter of hard rain echoed throughout the safe house, along with the clink of empty gun shells dropping on the floor. Rochelle and Nick grabbed as many supplies as they can find in the rooms, cleaning out their weapons from any flesh or mud from nearly swimming through the now flooded streets.

I sat by the door leading to our only exit. I began slowly dozing off, how long has it been since we actually gotten a good decent sleep? Days? Weeks? Has it been a month yet?

"Hey Cal! Lookey what I found, some chocolate. Coach n' Rochelle say they don't want any an' Nick just looked at me funny. You want some? I know ya probably hungry or somethin'." I just stared at him for a bit, holding the bar of chocolate at me.

Now I don't know how long it's been in this house, nor do I know if any of the infected got into it... But seriously, how could I let down that face?

"Uhm... I'll just take a tiny nibble." I took a tiny chunk off and popped it into my mouth, hearing the delightful crunch of a good and delicious chocolate bar.

"mmmHHHHMMM, wow I forgot how good chocolate can be..." I muttered as I took another piece. Ellis laughed a bit at my silliness and I just laughed back. He hid the rest in his pocket pants before I end up eating the entire thing.

"You all ready? We better start heading out before this storm gets even worse." Nick walked towards the door and waiting for our signal.

"Let's go!" Rochelle yelled, pumped. I held my pistol in my hands, ready to shoot.

The metal clank of the bar dropping the floor made the adrenaline rush to my head and before I knew it we were all running, shooting and hacking at whatever was near us.

"GO GO GO! Turn the light on!" I slammed on the button and there, shone the most brightest sign i've seen in such a long time. Roars echoed through and the heavy splash of water made me turn my attention to the running infected pretty much swimming through the water. Gunfire and the quick flashes of light from everyone shooting scattered everywhere.

I looked around and grabbed a bile jar lounging around the roof, and threw it in the water, hoping that those things would tear each other apart. Taking a look around seeing where everyone was at, my view was blinded by the harsh rain and wind. I nearly toppled over, and reached for my pistol.

I didn't know where anyone was now, all I heard was Rochelle screaming something and the groans of infected.

A high pitch shriek frightened me, and before I knew it my pistol was smacked out of my hand.

Sharp claws pinned me down to the ground, digging into my shoulders and arms as I make an attempt to push this damn Hunter off.

"Someone! Help! Hunter!" My screams couldn't be heard over the horde and roars of the rain.

Was I going to die like this? Alone and a place where no one can help me?

I didn't want this, don't let it be. I want to stay strong, don't let me die.

"I got you kiddo!" Nick whacked the Hunter multiple times with his crowbar, and then kicked the thing off before helping me up.

"Whew, sorry about that. A Boomer got us all, you alright?" Shaken, I just nodded.

Well at least I'm not dead.

The rain started to slowly die down and any moment now we knew Virgil would come get us.

A loud booming snarl reached to us as the ground began to shake. We dreaded this moment.

"TANNNKKKKK!" Ellis shouted right before we opened fire on the thing. It was still raining a bit heavily so getting a really good view was a bit difficult.

"Hey ya'll, we'll just need ta beat this Tank an' in no tim-" A Charger out of nowhere came out and knocked Ellis off his feet.

"ELLIS!" I screamed before the Tank smashed it's fist into my rib cage and sending me flying 30 feet away from my feet. I slammed my head against the front of a truck and fell into the knee deep water. Everything became all muddled and blurry and water began to seep into my lungs.

Everyone's screams were hallowed out and it felt like everything was being heard through a paper cone. My head was spinning and I couldn't concentrate on pushing off these things kicking and clawing at me; I didn't even have the strength to nudge them.

Pieces of my shirt ripped and fell into the water as I weakly limped my way through the horde. I held a machete and tried to decapitate a zombie, only to get it stuck halfway into' it's neck. I let go of the machete and watched as it twitched, weakly grasping on the hem of my shirt.

My teammates were nowhere to be found. I found the Charger that was still pummeling Ellis to the ground.

Then it clicked

"Oh shit ELLIS!" I trudged my way through, pushing any random infected hanging nearby the Charger. The closest weapon I could find was a wooden stick, since I lost my pistol and machete. I tried stabbing the big armed thing, trying to direct it's attention to me.

"You piece of shit, LET HIM FUCKING GO" I screamed, ignoring the fact that now my stick was broken in half. It was like fighting the school bully with a pillow while he has boxing gloves.

Call me stupid, but I got it to do what I wanted. Sure i'll regret it later, but fuck it.

It swung it's arm at me, nearly dislocating my jaw. Once again drowning in the muddy water, I scrambled to my feet and pretty much just limped my way before it got to me again. But being in the state I was, it was impossible.

I felt it grip on my waist, nearly crushing my ribs to dust and it was ready to break me. I clawed at it's arm and fist, the fear of dying slowly creeping up on me.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move.

A loud bang rang and once again I was in the water.

Hands were all over me and I was gasping for air, even though it hurt just to breathe.

"CAL! Honey are you okay?"

"Hey kiddo speak to me!" Faces were blurred, the world was spinning, I couldn't make sense of anything.

Is the sky blue? Or gray? Is the grass usually green? Or muddy brown?

"Oh man, lets go find Coach and Ellis and get outta here." I heard Nick mumble.

Ellis... El...lis...

ELLIS.

I got up too quickly and ran to where I vaguely remembered where his body was,

and there it was.. Limp and cold.

"Oh no no no no... Ellis come on, come on. You can't leave us." I barely breathed as I held my side, old wounds reopened once again. I smacked his face a couple of times, hoping to see those bright blue eyes again. He couldn't leave us, not yet. I promised to stick around and he should too, for my sake...

A heavy hand patted me on my shoulder, which made me jump and almost fall over.

"He's alive young'un, just knocked out. Poor boy, c'mon Virgil'll be here any second." Coach was just as nearly beaten as I was. I guess he tried to take down the Tank on his own while all of us were scattered around. I couldn't tell if I was crying or what but I let out a wail as Coach picked up Ellis's limp body and made his way to the dock.

Nick came and carried me on his back, since I gave out from all the dizziness and blood loss.

Bodies floated in the waters, reminding me of this grim reminder that we can never go back to the comfort of the lives we were so accustomed to.

No more playing games.

No more sitting around home and being with family.

No more home.

Virgil came and we climbed aboard, finally getting away from this hell. Even as we drove away, I still sat outside on the deck feeling the soft tiny patter of raindrops on my head. Nick and Rochelle argued with me about coming inside, but I just grunted at them, having no words to say to them.

I remembered the times me and Spencer would play outside as kids as it rained, and our mother would scold us for going out in the rain and saying stuff like 'you kids will catch colds!' which we ended up having.

I could no longer feel my fingers.

Nor my legs.

My breaths came out raspy and harsh, every breath I took crushed my insides, making me cringe.

I slowly walked inside the tiny cot to see Ellis lying flat on a bed, Rochelle placing a wet rag against his forehead, wrapping up his wounds.

I can't remember when, but the view before me disappeared and I felt a crushing impact on my chest and the taste of stale wood and copper before slamming head first onto the floor.

* * *

><p><strong>[AN] gosh how long has it been since i updated? anyways, hi guys long time no see. just recently decided to update this story. it was barely a quarter written last time i left this and i thought to myself 'hell let me just update' and i forgot how much i missed writing.**

**anways i've been extremely busy with school, work, and also dealing with some family issues recently. but nonetheless, i still am planning to work on this story. **

**i miss working on this story and plan on updating a bit more? not exactly sure. but i'll try. **

**you guys can always contact me on my tumblr since i'm there 24/7**

**reviews and critiques are always welcomed.**


	10. Philophobia

**[A/N] Jay1393: ah thank you very much! it was a great help and i'm glad i wa****s some sort of influence :) as for my tumblr link, i recently changed my url so.. eheheh... it's all fixed now, so you're more than welcome to check it out! :D**

* * *

><p>I felt trapped in a surreal like dream.<p>

I was floating down under the ocean, bubbles dancing beside my head floating upwards as I sink down.

I wasn't drowning, I was just drifting. The more I went down the darker it got.

The light started to disappear from me and I slowly started to panic.

I hate the darkness.

I used to cry in the middle of the night and crawl to my mom's bed, sobbing as I clenched onto my nightshirt thinking the 'boogeyman' or whatever was going to come and kidnap me. She'd comfort me, and hum to me as she made room for me to sleep beside her.

A slight giggle escaped from my lips. My family, how I miss them so much.

I need to escape this trance and get back to reality.

They need me, Nick, Rochelle, Coach, Ell-

ELLIS.

I felt a pair of hands all of a sudden just wrap around my neck and strangle me.

The panic rose from my chest and I struggled to breath. I trashed and tried to swim but I couldn't get away.

This was a nightmare

Please wake up

Please wake up

Please wake up

Please wake up

Please wake-

* * *

><p>My eyes snapped open to harsh lights and I nearly choked on my own breath from inhaling too quick. I rolled over from the cot I was in and landed roughly onto the wooden floor, making me wheeze and curl into a fetal position on the floor. A door swung open and I felt a pair of hands trying to hoist me up back onto the tiny bed.<p>

"Dammit Cal! We just got you all wrapped up and you're gonna hurt yourself doing all that shit!" I turned to face Ro who had tiny bandages on her nose and cheek and wrappings around her arm.

"What happened to you" I hoarsely whispered. She smiled softly and ran her fingers along the wrapping.

"Oh, just tiny scratches hon, nothing much. Nothing compared to you." I tilted my head confused.

"You mean you don't see the wrappings all over you? You look like a mummy to me!" We both laughed, and then settled back into silence. I scratched at my wrappings and noticed how banged up I really was.

My jaw hurt so much, my cheek stung

My ribs felt like broken branched poking me in my lungs.

"Hey Ro... How's Ellis...?" I mumbled. She turned towards me and smiled.

"Why don'tcha say hi to him. He's awake and doing good."

* * *

><p>I limped my way to check on Ellis.<p>

God was I nervous or what. Just awhile ago I went into the bathroom to check on myself and holy shit did I look like someone's punching bag. I think I probably chipped a tooth, probably from that fall I took when I got onto the boat. God did it give me such a head ache. I really hope i'm not bothering Ellis...

Maybe he's too tired and doesn't wanna deal with me...

Or maybe he's still feeling unwell and doesn't wanna see anyone at all. Oh god oh god oh god...

Summoning all the courage I had, I slightly knocked on his door.

A muffled 'c'mon on' made me stiff.

The door creaked and there he was sitting up on the tiny cot reading something. My hands began shaking and I couldn't tell if it was because I was nervous or the pain in my chest was killing me.

He didn't notice me at first, probably thought I was someone bringing him food or something.

Tears stung my, he had his arm wrapped up and a sling. Probably broken or something.

There were wrappings around his chest going over his shoulder, and his nose was slightly red and purple, bruised.

I held back a sob as I walked closer to him, every step I took made me lose my calm and cool facade.

He looked up and smiled at me, staring at me with those bright blue eyes that just made me lose everything.

"Cal what's wrong?" He got up and cupped my face, I couldn't face him, I was too embarrassed to even be in the same room as him.

"I'm so sorry. I should've kept an eye on you... You were hurt.. Almost killed. I'm so sorry.. I'm so sorry." I gripped tightly onto his arm, nearly tearing at his bandages.

He ran his fingers through my hair and looked at me sternly.

"Now look here, ain't nothin' was your fault, alright? Ya did whatcha can, and ya know what, i'm glad you went after that one armed fucker, an' put everythin' into to rescue me. I mean, not to sound mean an' all, but Cal you look pretty beaten." My breaths came out quick, raspy and harsh. I cringed at every breath I took and Ellis took note of that.

"I tried so hard to keep you safe El, I really did. I don't care what happens to me. I love you." Those words ran off my tongue and before I could realize what I just said I stopped. I took a step back and caught a good look at the shock on his face.

Maybe it wasn't meant to be. I was right, he's better off with a girl with his similar tastes.

What am I but just another person getting through this war; none of this matters.

I looked down at my feet, now more embarrassed than ever. I just wanted to get out and have this tiny trip over with.

Ellis held my hand loosely, not moving.

"Cal, ya mean that?" Trying to avoid eye contact, I just nodded.

I can't deny it, this swelling feeling I have growing in my chest just doesn't want to go away and i'm here dying because of it. You can say that it's because my ribs are probably poking holes into my heart and lungs but I know this feeling, and it's something so deep and just, surreal. It's suffocating me but at the same time, I enjoy it.

El kissed the top of my head, and he pulled me closer.

"Thank yew." He pulled my chin up and placed his lips against mine, softly and tender.

It was an out of body experience. I felt like I was lying on a soft pink cloud, being tickled by it's soft texture against my skin. I was at peace

I felt like for at the moment, the world was in harmony.

I tried moving my jaw, but cringed and pulled away. It was probably dislocated or something.

Ellis just smiled, and sat on his cot, making room for me so I can lie beside him.

I crawled underneath the wool blanket and curled beside him, feeling warm and cozy.

"I promise you, I ain't leaving you."

* * *

><p>I remember my first boyfriend.<p>

It was when I moved to New York and studied Art History in College.

He had rough large hands, and messy dirty blond hair. He had green eyes and a tiny scar on his left eyebrow.

He was into graffiti and I ran into him as he was tagging a side of the school buildings wall.

From then on I hung out with him a lot and took nice walks around the local park, collecting flowers.

In the beginning he was sincere and sometimes affectionate. He was cold, and distant though.

We weren't much of a couple honestly, we just hanged around in my apartment, me watching him as he painted and vice versa.

Then when things got physical, that's when everything went downhill.

Every night he'd climb into my room late at night and curl beside me, his hand tracing the outlines of my inner thighs. If he was brave, his hands would linger around my breasts.

It wasn't before long before he started leaving me behind alone at the park, going off and visiting his 'friends'. I'd wait long hours at the park in the snow just for him to say he was out of town.

I had a pregnancy scare with him and that was the last straw. I packed my things, dropped out of school and took off.

The last confrontation ended up harsh. He swung at me and nearly broke my nose. If it wasn't for Spencer not being there, I don't know what would've happened.

Then all this happened. Now i'm here.

Lying next to Ellis.

He breathed slowly and even snored, which I found funny.

The tiny feature on him, like the scar on the bridge of his nose was one of those things that attracted me to him.

These tiny imperfections, the things that you notice but no one else does. Those are the things you just hold onto, and cherish.

Suddenly this apocalypse wasn't so bad, you know?

* * *

><p>"So we have at least one more day before we finally reach New Orleans. So I guess we better prep up soon before we get there." Nick announced as we ate dinner.<p>

Still recovering from a bad jaw, it took me twice the time to eat. Rochelle gave me some pain killers to help ease the pain.

I took a quick glance at Ellis who was chatting up with Coach about something.

I felt like a highschool girl with her new boyfriend.

It was all so silly but I was really enjoying it. Something to enlighten the whole events of this outbreak.

Rochelle nudged me and smiled at me, I couldn't help it but just grin at her.

We all began unloading and cleaning out our guns, or whatever guns Virgil had willingly gave us. It wasn't much but at least enough for us to get through.

"How ya feelin' hun?" Ellis crept up beside me, loading his pistol.

"A bit dizzy but thank God it's just that. Still a bit sore from walking around the deck." He saw that I was struggling loading up my gun and helped me.

"Well one more night an' we'll be back out. Yew just needa take it easy. Go on ahead an' sleep, I gotchu covered here."

I was grateful for that and decided to take the night off before once again facing the harsh world.

I just hope CEDA is there, and that we'll be safe once again. I miss Spencer so much, I really sincerely hope he's okay. It's just been swimming in my thoughts and I couldn't help but wonder what would we do if CEDA wasn't there.

What if Spencer got infected.

No, stay positive, just stay positive.

* * *

><p>"Now this is a'far as Virgil goes, but y'all can make it to the bridge from here." Echoed Virgil from the Speaker before he went off. Nick scoffed and turned to face us.<p>

I guess I was wrong about New Orleans being safe.

"Dammnn... This can't be what we were goin' for..." Coach mumbled as we made our way up the walkway.

Then I saw it all.

It was infested.

My stomach dropped when I realized that this was my home.

My haven

Gone

* * *

><p><strong>[AN] sorry if this was rushed in anyway. I'm in the middle of finals and i swear to god i am getting closer and closer to the end of this story. **

**but it's just really beginning to blossom and it makes me happy. **

**on the other hand, i'ma start making tiny doodles about my fic, so if you guys wanna check it out, head on to my dA on my profile.**

**reviews and critiques are always welcomed.**


	11. Coimetrophobia

**[A/N] nazi: whoops that was my fault. i fixed it so i hope it's okay now. thanks for catching that! and i'm glad you love my story!**

**Also thank you Fable II is AWESOMESAUCED!**

* * *

><p>I felt sick, sick to the core.<p>

All around were dead bodies and infected limping around.

Suddenly the chances of having CEDA save us was slim...

The chances of finding Spencer alive was even slimmer.

"No.. No... This is all wrong..." I mumbled through my fingers as I limply held onto my rifle. Ellis must've noticed my distress, he appeared beside me and nudged me.

" 'ey now, yer big bro has'ta be 'round here. We'll find 'im, don'tchu worry Cal." As much as I wanted to believe him, I just forced a smile on my face and turned away. All this sent made me nauseous.

I just wanted to drop my weapon and scream.

This isn't how I wanted it to go.

No.

CEDA was suppose to be here. Not all these infected.

It felt like my arms were noodles and suddenly holding this gun was like carrying around an anchor.

* * *

><p>"SHOOT THEM, SHOOT THEM ALL!"<p>

I was backed up against the kitchen wall, trying to shove the snapping of teeth near my neck.

I was too afraid to shoot them. All these faces,

I remember them.

A couple ran this restaurant. Me, my mom, and Spencer would come here and eat every Sunday morning as a tradition. They served the best eggs and bacon and just thinking about it gets my stomach rumbling.

Though at this moment, I'm not so hungry.

It's a huge struggle for me just to get past the kitchen, and now it feels like i'm clawing my way out from the front of the restaurant.

I turn around to find the others, only to be slammed against a car by a random Infected, trying to get a snag at my neck.

Next thing I know there's an alarm blaring, and the sound of scattering feet make me realize

Everyone I know here is dead.

I gathered all my strength and just knocked down the zombie who was holding me down and crushed in his face with the back of my rifle.

"What are you doing kid? Get yo' ass moving!" Coach grabbed me by the wrist and nearly flung me to the direction of the safehouse.

We all staggered in, Ellis almost toppling over me as sat near the door.

"Whoa there Cal, almost tripped on ya." I huffed as I stared glassy eyed at him. His expression dropped and he made himself cozy next to me.

"What's the matter hun? I didn't really mean to trip on ya-"

"It's not that El, i'm just... I... What if Spencer isn't here? Or alive? What do I do?" He smiled softly and patted my back.

"Now don'tchu worry, i'm sure he's safe n' sound. Don't be thinkin' 'bout stuff like that ya hear? We gonna get outta here." I found myself smiling at his words of endearment and got up.

"Thanks El, now lets go kick some zombie ass."

* * *

><p>I was being slammed against a tree shouting for someone to come help me.<p>

There were birds away from this mayhem chirping their lovely hearts out, and here I am with the others swamped with a bunch of infected.

The Charger eventually went limp and fell with a heavy thud.

"Whew, sorry about that!" Rochelle sighed as she wiped off some blood from her brow. I nodded at her and got up ready to get this whole ordeal over with.

It was becoming urgent to find Spencer, or at least got out of here.

It was becoming a drag to get through this place, and i'm getting impatient.

So impatient I don't even bother to heal myself anymore; I just hop myself up on pills and run.

"Now hold on! You gotta heal yourself before getting out there." Nick shouted as he grabbed me by the arm. I nearly forgot that the door was alarmed.

"Huh? I'm fine! We need to go now!" I cried, getting antsy at the thought of finding the safe house.

"Fine?! Like hell you're not! That cut on your arm from days ago doesn't look good! And hell kid, you're bleeding from your nose!" He was right, the cut on my left arm from that Witch seemed to get worse as I continued here. It was getting better but I then neglected cleaning it.

Not to mention it was my shield from Spitter's acid. I wiped whatever blood remained on my upper lip and glared at him.

"Look i'll heal, b-but we need to get going on. I have some pills so don't freak out." Nick scowled and then shrugged.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."

In retrospect, I do regret not healing.

"God fucking dammit!" Nick hissed under his breath as he shoved off an infected. I already had to fight off two Jockey's, a Hunter, and Spitter.

**SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE**

Make that two Hunters now.

"AUGH, GET OFF." It felt like my intestines were being pulled out of me, and the decision of ditching out on healing was the worst mistake I made so far.

I couldn't even think through as the damn alarm kept on blaring, saying 'Hey it's an all you can eat buffet!'

The Hunter collapsed next to me and there Ellis stood over me.

"There ya go, now c'mon before we get left behin'!" Ellis picked me up and nearly shoved me up the ladder. Rochelle was ahead, knocking infected off to reach the alarm as Coach was in front of her shooting them off.

The sweet silence of the alarm was so blissful, but the growls and groans ruined this moment.

It didn't take long to finally clear out the area.

"Whew was that something or what!?" Rochelle exclaimed as she stretched. Coach came up beside me and nudged me.

"Now I know Nick ain't right all the time, but it's best to say you better heal befo' we get goin'." I rubbed my head sheepishly and nodded. It was embarrassing looking back at my behavior, it's no point of searching for Spencer if i'm slowly dying out here.

We got into the station and searched around for supplies.

I got into a room and decided it was about time to take a look at my wounds. Man was I beaten up or what.

I lifted my shirt, taking a much better look before hearing heavy footsteps.

"Hey Cal I- WOAH!" Ellis flailed his arms around thinking I was undressing... Which was partially true.

"El! It's alright! I'm just wrapping up." I lowered his arms from his face, seeing his face all red and flustered.

"O-oh well, uhm... N-need help?" I smiled and nodded my head. He took my left arm and began disinfecting the scratches.

"You still worried hun?" I looked at him, and sighed.

"Yeah, I mean, the way things have been. Not to mention, this is my hometown. Everyone I've known is here and possibly dead." He squeezed my elbow slightly and smiled.

"'Ey now, I betchu can find yer big bro. I promise ya." A blush crept onto my face and without thinking I hugged him.

I felt his muscles move underneath me, his ams wrapping around me. There was this sudden urge to just kiss him, but I was so nervous.

I've done it before, what's preventing me now?! I mean, we're both in a room by ourselves, and the others are off looking for things.

"Hey El, what's going to happen once this is all over?" I still held onto him, as we both looked at each other. His blue eyes searched around, finding an answer. My heart began to beat uncontrollable and I was afraid he was going to feel it.

"Now I can't say fer sure, but... For now, I wanna get yew outta here and safe." I smiled and got the courage to kiss him again. It simple and sweet, nothing too hot and heavy.

I didn't want to let him go.

I wanted to enjoy the moment for awhile.

"Ellis! Cal! Lets get going!" We both jumped and quickly gathered our stuff to avoid having a confrontation.

As we caught up, Nick began making snarky remarks.

"Ellis you better be using protection even if it's the end of the world..."

* * *

><p>"C'mon lets get over this bus, we don't got all day." Nick muttered as he waited for us to climb down.<p>

A nasty cough made me jump and everyone readied their weapon and pointed it at the air. "Where is that son of a bitch." Coach mumbled, slowly walking off the bus.

It wasn't before long that a long slimy tongue wrapped itself around his ankle and tried to drag him off the bus.

"Coach! I got you!" Rochelle grabbed onto him as the Smoker tried pulling him away.

"Someone! Grab my machete and cut this thing off!" I grabbed her machete and cut it off, while Nick and Ellis began shooting at the Smoker.

"Dammit he got away..." Ellis wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Well there's no point waitin' for him, lets get going before we get swamped with a horde." Rochelle huffed as she helped Coach get off the bus.

It was eerily quiet as we made it through the street and out of the house.

"Isn't it a bit weird there's no infected around...?" I asked, jumping from the gaping hole in the house.

"Now that ya mention it... It is kinda weird..." A low growl made the hairs on the back of my neck rise.

"You guys..." The group walked right into the street, not hearing me.

"You guys... I think there's a-"

"TANKKK!" Coach shouted as the clobbering thing came at him and swung.

Gunshots rang out, and I tried catching up to the group.

"SHOOT IT! SHOOT IT!" Ellis screamed as he kept his rifle aimed high at the Tank. He lunged towards Nick and knocked him over a couple of times, Rochelle taking advantage of this shooting him straight in the back.

It didn't take long for the thing to eventually fall over and collapse.

"Whew thank God for that." Rochelle smiled as she looked over the gigantic infected. "Well lets get going before anymore show up, huh?

* * *

><p>We walked through till we had to hit the sewers, and man did that stink or what (no pun)<p>

Then it came to making it across a maze full of alarmed cars (which we did end up setting one off and man was that hell or what)

Things cleared up and I realized that nearby the cemetery was my old home.

"If we make it past the cemetery we can scrounge through my old place and find supplies!"

It wasn't an easy task to make it through the cemetery as I completely forgot how to get through.

"Ack! Finally!" I sat at the ledge of an abandoned truck, laughing awkwardly to myself.

My home! It's right there! Maybe there's some clues about where Spencer is. Or even, my mom!

The waiting is killing me.

"So where to Cal, you're leading us." I pretty much sprinted through the street, excited.

The door was barricaded and I had to rip off the wooden planks with a crowbar lying nearby.

Once I got the door open, there was that familiar feeling again.

The house was two stories, and always had this sorta foresty feeling since my mom was always into nature and stuff, though now all those plants are dead and withered away. The house smelled like dying plants and there was this putrid smell I wasn't sure where it was coming from.

The group split up and I walked upstairs, going into my old room.

There were old paintings I did hanging around, my jars of paint scattered (some spilled), and just papers everywhere. The house was a mess but i'm sure it's from the whole Infection thing here and CEDA evacuating people from their homes. There wasn't much here I kept, though there was an old photo of me and Spencer on my desk.

I felt queasy looking at it and placed the picture flat on the desk.

Across the hallway was my mother's room (and down the hall was Spencer's).

I noticed that while all the other rooms were open, it was only my mom's room that was closed.

The door wouldn't budge, so I began slamming my shoulder onto the door, and it took a few times before it budged open. Then that horrible putrid smell overwhelmed me.

The entire room was stained red and there was this gut feeling that something was going to turnout wrong...

The mattress was thrown across the room, along with the cork board that hung over my mother's desk.

I lifted the mattress and noticed a bulge underneath the covers and blankets. Moving things around that smell began to get worse and worse and the sound of flies got me anxious.

I couldn't handle it anymore, I threw the mattress against the wall, and moved the blankets and cover around.

Honestly I regretted it.

I wanted to scream and lash out.

I just.

All I could do was whimper.

"Mom?"

* * *

><p><strong>So yeah I know it's been awhile, but hey, i'm nearly done wrapping this story up. Awesome! But I just finished classes for now, and i'm going to try updating as much as I can.<strong>

**hahaha but yeah guys don't fret i am still around and alive (barely)**


End file.
